Currently sitting at a 94% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes and since i'm a nut for mythology in general i decided to see it tonight. Keep in mind i've never even read a single comic from this series or many Marvel comics in general so my opinion might be a bit iffy during this review.

Thor: IT'S AWESOME!

Really, it's arguably better than the first Iron Man and a **** sight better than Iron Man II by quite a bit. It's a true return to form for Marvel Studios after many fans and moviegoers felt a bit let down by Iron Man II. The action is AMAZING and puts anything else the studio or any other studio that's dabbed it's hands into comic book movies has done to shame. The plot is simple but solid; the god figure (Thor) is cast out from Asgard and down to earth to be taught a lesson in humility after he stirs up a hornets nest of epic proportions. The plot follows Thor's efforts to return to Asgard and later to fight the forces that pursue him in exile and that threaten earth's people. It also follows the machinations of Thor's brother Loki and his own ambitions. It's also got it's fair share of pretty funny (in a laugh out loud way) moments that really got me laughing, i'd say it provides laughs on par with the first Iron Man... maybe a few more depending on your own sense of humor.

The acting is solid throughout, Anthony Hopkins is pretty intimidating as Odin and Chris Hemsworth is excellent as Thor. You'll be happy to know that appearances and references to "The Avengers" are almost non-existant, someone at Marvel was quick to pick up the ball that got dropped during Iron Man II pretty fast. S.H.I.E.L.D is mentioned a fair bit but it actually plays a part in the storyline rather than a "hey look over there, it's Cap's shield" sort of thing. The soundtrack is pretty decent as well, if hearing AC/DC twice over in Iron Man and Iron Man II got annoying (i myself facepalmed at the end of Iron Man II when "Highway to ****" started) it's not been repeated here don't worry. I was expecting to hear something like "Kiss - God of Thunder" or something but the soundtrack is pretty small but again, solid. Here is one of the tracks: Foo Fighters - Walk

Many fans and critics alike were worried during Thor's production that the director would not be able to keep the film from 'going over the top', which many thought would be hard given the source material but it's been done. Asgard is a visual delight to look at as are the other realms Thor and his fellow warriors visit throughout the plot. Nothing seems too over the top, Thor even goes out of his way to say "Where i am from, 'Science' and 'Magic' are one and the same" at one point, almost as if to hammer that home (har har...). The film instead roots itself in Norse Mythology extremely well and does it justice in bringing themes from it to the big screen in a not-so-silly manner. Things like the Aesir, Yggdrasil (sp?) and Asgard in general are all pulled off brilliantly. It truly is a love-letter to fans of the comic and to those that like Norse Mythology.

I was extremely impressed with this film and i'm now pretty eager to see what part Thor plays in "The Avengers", i also find myself looking forward to Captain America a lot more than i was now. Marvel has clearly picked themselves up and have gotten their game back on the tracks.

My rating... 10/10. (Rarely do this)

If anyone else has seen it yet what is your take on it?

EDIT: Sorry, i'm from the UK and i think we got to see this sooner for some reason.

Edited, Apr 28th 2011 7:11pm by Tatham

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Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

I'm certainly looking forward to it. While Thor has never been a favorite of mine, when a Marvel character gets a movie, no matter how awful it is, I feel my inner 13 year old puking in my brain from the anticipation of seeing it. It sounds like they cut out basically the first tenth of the Thor mythos for the movie (the Donald Blake aspect). As a fanboy I am a little annoyed, but I completely understand the necessity. It works for a comic book, but for a movie that's just long plot that doesn't really help. Kind of like how they skipped Spider-Man's high school days.

That being said, The Avengers movie ****** me off to no ends. No Hank Pym? Really? Just the guy that basically invented The Avengers in the first place is being snubbed, in favor of Hawkeye? Hawkeye is a pretty epic member of The Avengers, don't get me wrong, but **** it. Hank Pym is awesome.

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George Carlin wrote:

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

Theophany wrote:YOU'RE AN ELITIST @#%^ AETHIEN, NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS AND PEOPLE HATE YOU. someproteinguy wrote:Aethien you take more terrible pictures than a Japanese tourist. Astarin wrote:One day, Maz, you'll learn not to click on anything Aeth links.

Yeah, i understand that the film cannot stay completely true to the mythology most of the time but remember i almost never read comics as a kid but i do like classical studies and mythology. It was all i really had to go on apart from how much i liked Iron Man (first one) and i wanted to see if they could make this as good as that.

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Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Thor the comic is based on Thor the god, other than that they have very little to do with each other. If you want to know more about Nordic mythology I'd suggest searching for the older and poetic edda, if you think you'd enjoy reading poetry that is.

Theophany wrote:YOU'RE AN ELITIST @#%^ AETHIEN, NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS AND PEOPLE HATE YOU. someproteinguy wrote:Aethien you take more terrible pictures than a Japanese tourist. Astarin wrote:One day, Maz, you'll learn not to click on anything Aeth links.

i understand that the film cannot stay completely true to the mythology most of the time but remember i almost never read comics as a kid but i do like classical studies and mythology.

Yeah, there are a few things that the comics borrow from the mythos ... but overall basically there's very few similarities between the two. Mostly just names. I mean, Ragnarok happens like ... I think they're going on the third one now in the comics.

____________________________

George Carlin wrote:

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

Great movie, but why it got 95% when Sucker Punch got 22% is beyond me. Both are ridiculous action movies. Great action movies, though, but still pretty ridiculous.

Unless a movie, wherein magic and science is the same, and the Nordic gods of Asa faith are in fact an advanced civilization of humanoids living on a flat planet in the center of what appears to be a galaxy (normally occupied by a giant black hole, but whatever), is less ridiculous than five chicks in corsets battling **** zombies and giant samurai...

Anyway, I liked how they made Idris Elba a Norse god. Not that roles should be reserved for Caucasian actors, but Heimdall isn't black in the comic nor the original mythology. And considering Heimdall plays a less than talkative robot for most of the movie, I don't see why they needed an African-American for the role.

Meh, Elba's performance was pretty good and his character 100% badass, so I don't really care.

I highly recommend the movie if you're into special effects, action and funny. It doesn't deserve 10/10, though. I'd give it a 8/10, with a +1 if they'd worked on the story some more. It feels really rushed towards the end. Thor gets exiled to Earth and the next day the movie is over.

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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.

Unless a movie, wherein magic and science is the same, and the Nordic gods of Asa faith are in fact an advanced civilization of humanoids living on a flat planet in the center of what appears to be a galaxy (normally occupied by a giant black hole, but whatever), is less ridiculous than five chicks in corsets battling **** zombies and giant samurai...

I believe in a recent issue of Iron Man, Marvel's Asgardians were referred to as "timeless immortal viking space deities."

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"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin

Theophany wrote:YOU'RE AN ELITIST @#%^ AETHIEN, NO WONDER YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS AND PEOPLE HATE YOU. someproteinguy wrote:Aethien you take more terrible pictures than a Japanese tourist. Astarin wrote:One day, Maz, you'll learn not to click on anything Aeth links.

Actually, the Earth X origin of, well, pretty much all of the marvel universe (including the Asgardians) is pretty neat & I would recommend it. Basically, they aren't gods, but they became gods because people believed them to be gods & now they believe it themselves & have forgotten their true origin.

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"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin

Comic story arcs tend to get silly over time. Retcons are often a thing of evil. For instance, when the X-Men universe was split up into a future parallel universe and all that.

As for the movie not being true to the myth, I sort of accepted that it was a movie based on a comic based on the myth. I'll admit, when Thor mentioned wanting to die and go to Valhalla, I raised an eyebrow. Valhalla lies in Asgard and Thor's father, Odin, is already there. He could just go up and, you know, knock... they'd probably let him in. They made it sound like Valhalla was a heaven for viking deities and a separate dimension from Asgard. Asgard is "heaven", Midgard is Earth, Valhalla is a hall in Asgard where the gods get drunk with the brave mortals who went there with valkyries.

Edited, May 5th 2011 2:29pm by Mazra

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Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.

Saw it last night. It was good, not great (I'm sort of tired of the stereotypical plot with no real variation, but I guess there's only so much you can do). Don't forget to stay after the credits (again, good scene but not great). Still definitely looking forward to the Avengers (and the other superhero movies coming out this summer).

Just saw it: I enjoyed it. The Warriors Three and Lady Sif were PERFECTLY cast, much like J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies. Seems to be some kind of Marvel tradition that secondary characters are better cast than primary. Volstagg could have been a little pudgier, and I miss Hogun's and Sif's funny hats, but still pretty well represented. Thor and Loki got their funny hats ... And the reverse. Scruffy Thor kind of got on my nerve. I remember 90s EXTREME BEARD™ Thor, but I don't really remember Hipster Scruffy Beard Thor.

Or the accents. Not nearly enough thous and verilys.

About an hour in, enjoyed the Hawkeye cameo.

Extreme Annoyance: Still no Hank Pym.

Edited, May 7th 2011 1:59pm by lolgaxe

____________________________

George Carlin wrote:

I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

In theater right now, will post thoughts later. The commercials are just about to give way to the trailers.

OK, now that I've seen it, it was good, but not as good as some of you have been making it out to be. I never bothered with the comic and went in with just some basic Norse mythology to prepare me, and the story was still incredibly predictable. As a basic action movie, it was entertaining and worth the seven bucks it cost, but that's about it. The 3D was not worth the extra two dollars, but the 2D wasn't playing anywhere nearby, so I had to put up with those stupid glasses, for next to no benefit. Skip the 3D if you can.

I went to see Fast Five last week and found that it was a better movie, both in terms of action and storyline. If you were interested in seeing both and had to pick one, I'd go with FF.